


Wandering Soul ~ Second Book

by Arizen117



Series: Wandering Soul ~ Series [2]
Category: Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:34:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29236905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arizen117/pseuds/Arizen117
Summary: This is the second book of the series. Stellar encounters problems with trust as far as Blue Team goes, and isn't sure if she'll find the Master Chief.
Series: Wandering Soul ~ Series [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2146854
Kudos: 1





	Wandering Soul ~ Second Book

Tomorrow is another day. That’s always what I was told. My parents told me this always after a bad day, like the one time that I watched a kid beat up someone else at the park. I cried for that kid, as no one else would, and I thought that I was doing the right thing. It felt almost like a trick, someone gets hurt, but they don’t feel the pain, and I take it for them. I grew up around the morals of how a game that I had played, acted. I taught myself to be strong, determined, and reasonable. I knew that many people would laugh at what I did, if I were to tell them what made me who I was. They would tell me that if I were to base my life after a video game, then they would think I had less intellect then I made them think on the first impression. Now I was here, fighting for my life, with the same team I thought I knew, that was way different than I had expected. Another day, and we would have another chance at finding the Chief. Another day. I had to wait. I had to keep my patience under control. I felt like waiting was a fancy definition for “waiting forever until you die, and never get anywhere or anything done.” I thought that I might’ve tripped on the thought of waiting made sense if it had meant forever. But then again… tomorrow is another day. Another chance. Another chance to strike at the weaknesses boiling inside of us. Another chance to prove yourself to the world that you aren’t useless. Reach was a sad story. Yesterday was the day that I had time to think about all of the loss. The finest men and women of our military force. They were like family. Family that hurt our souls if they died, went MIA. Now I understood what it meant to Blue Team. The Master Chief wasn’t just a hero, he was part of their family. Their force. The leader. Frederic was left second-in-command for the team at the time, but I had known that Kelly had power over Fred. The Chief had left Kelly as Blue-Two, but Frederic had tactical command over the entire team since he had a higher rank. Four people. Four stories. I felt bad, as one of those could’ve ended. They could've died by now. But that wasn’t the Chief. He had been known for his streak of luck. Anyone who didn’t believe in superstition would even still believe in him. He fought hard, long battles, attitude eroded by cold war. 

“Are you okay?” Kelly asked me. I finally noticed that I was staring at the UNSC logo on the bulkhead of the Pelican. Spaced out, as usual. “Yeah.” I replied to her, not breaking my gaze from the logo. “You seem- distant.” She said to me. I appreciated the fact that Kelly seemed to be the only one on the team who was concerned for me, as Fredrick and Linda weren’t before. The past few days were practically just me and Kelly talking; Fredrick and Linda just minded their own business. “No signals from the Chief on the comns?” I asked her. “Nothing yet.” Kelly seemed upset over the fact that John was gone. She was worried about his status, and was pacing around the cargo bay of the Pelican for the past three days. I kinda knew how she felt, as I had lost my father in the war, he went MIA, but me and my mother weren’t sure if he would ever come back. Eventually they stopped looking for him, and then about a year later, they had found him on a mission on Jericho VII, as bare as a skeleton. They threw a memorial and announced his death. My mother got sick two months later, and lost her life as well. That was the worst year of my life. I took to survival, as I was taught by my father. I made an outpost in the woods, and lived there. But all of that was gone now. Glassed. Reach was as good as nothing. “I just kinda wish he was here to help us.” Kelly said, making me turn off the memory lane. “I understand. He is kinda family to me too. He trained me back on Reach, made me a Spartan.” I told her. “I had recovered from the augmentations and found out that he had left.” “Well I didn’t think that he would disappear so easily. I just don’t understand why he left Fred in charge- usually when he does that it means that something really bad is going to happen.” Kelly said, looking up at the logo in which I was practically burning holes in the logo with my stare. Yes, I was still looking at it, thinking. And yes, I was still trying to ponder where he had gone. I had been thinking too much, and if I hadn’t snapped out of it, I probably would’ve gotten a migraine. “John told me this one story where he had a game he would play in the park with his friends in Elysium City.” Kelly paused, then continued, “He said he was fighting his friends to the top, and only he would be the winner. He told me that our training hit him hard, mainly because he had spent so much time being a lone wolf.” Kelly told me. “I guess that’s why he does better alone. He just went off on a mission that we couldn't partake.” “Yeah.” I said, almost ignoring her. I didn’t do it intentionally, I was just sitting there, thinking. It was almost like a trance. I made desperate attempts to snap out of it, but it was no use. “I think I need some time alone.” I got up, and moved to the cockpit. Frederic and Linda were in the other Pelican, the one that they originally had. Kelly had volunteered to help me in flying this one. I sat down in the cockpit, and stared into the empty sky. 

Memory:  
A blue sky. A sunny day. I felt the breeze on my bare shoulders. A shimmering lake. My parents laughter, and the clinking of beer bottles from my dad and his friends. “Too bad we couldn’t pay for the jetski… we would’ve had a better day.” The voice of my father. It was a bliss, remembering the low voice with a cheerful buzz. His laughter. “You know those things are expensive.” My mother said. I remember this place…. Lake Gusev? I thought, sitting on the seat in the boat. We had lived in Eridanus II until we moved to Reach, when my father joined the military. It was almost like a dream- the days that we would go camping on the beach, and the nights we spent around the campfire we made. The times that we were in Elysium City, either going to a movie theater or going to the mall. My father wouldn’t partake in these activities, though. He was always at a bar, talking about old-fashioned planes, or even the trades from the Insurrectionists. We were civilians, at that, but my dad always talked like an Innie. Mainly because of the fact that he was one before he met my mother. He would go on infamous adventures, stealing things from the UNSC or ONI, and then making a profit selling it off of the dark market. Everytime I would see my father before he joined the force, he would be holding a glass of Scotch, drinking from it and talking about the same things over and over. He continued this habit until one night, my mother and father had an argument. “You need to join the Army. There are Insurrectionists out there causing chaos and you’re sitting here, drinking a bottle a day, waiting for us to run out of money?” My mother said. I was listening from under my door, as I had sharp hearing, and quick reflexes just in case anyone decided to discover me listening to their conflict. “No, I just think we should get a break from the world every once in a while.” My father gave his reasons. But my mother had a point. If he were to just sit there, waiting for hell to break free of its clutches, and come after us, what would be the salvation? The argument continued until violence took place. My father was screaming and my mother was crying. I ran as fast as I could downstairs. In the living room, I saw my dad with blood on his hands, and my mom passed out on the floor. “Go away!” My father screamed at me and I ran back upstairs. The next morning, my mother was in the hospital, and my father was signing up for boot camp. “Hey, honey, aren’t you going to swim today?” The sweet voice of my mother. I snapped out of my memory. “Yea, mom, I will… I’m just soaking in the sun, I'll jump in a few minutes.” I replied to her, with a smile on my face. This was the day I would enjoy. Me, the innocent, sweet little girl, unaware of what would happen next.

I woke up. We were still in the sky, and I wasn’t so sure as to where we were going. Fredrick set a specific course to follow their Pelican. “To make sure she doesn’t get any funny ideas going off on an adventure when we’re supposed to keep this serious.” He had said, giving me a look that I would probably never forget for the rest of my life. “So I guess he won’t ever trust me.” I said to Kelly as we walked onboard the Pelican. “Yeah.” Was all I got out of Kelly. I started the engines of the Pelican after crawling into the cockpit. Time now seemed to pass slower than the time before getting on the Pelican. I missed the memory of fixing things and giving them to ONI. The Office of Naval Intelligence always got what they wanted from me and I gave it to them anyways. The ship was quiet, and the cargo bay was even more silent. I looked around the room. Kelly was sitting on the floor, head in hands. “You alright?” I asked her. “Yeah. I’m fine.” She mumbled, still having her head in her hands, looking down at the floor. “You seem- upset…” I said to her. She didn’t move. “I’m worried about John.” Kelly said. “Well, why? He can perfectly maintain his status, and is an expert at being a lone wolf.” I tried to help her mood. It appeared to not be working. She still didn’t move and that made me kinda nervous. “Well, he doesn’t have anyone to help him. He doesn’t have Cortana, because she’s still stuck on that Covenant ship, probably being interrogated by the Gravemind, and if she gives any information or coordinates away-” ''I don’t think that’s going to happen. One. Cortana is a strong AI capable of hacking into even the most complex alien systems, and Two, the Master Chief, like I said, has excellence in being alone.” I explained to her. Kelly had seemed- to have a bit of an issue with the Master Chief being gone. I suspected that she was worried about him. He was their fireteam leader, after all. Every time someone in my family worried about the absence of someone, they would rub their rosary beads. When we were attending the funeral for my father, I broke my necklace, and then soon after everyone left, I set them next to his cryotube. They said that these would be like the “coffins” humans used back on Earth. I set the beads next to the cryotube, and then had a long talk with the spirit of my father. I talked about airplanes, Innie records [the same stuff he would talk to his friends about at the bars he visited every night], and childhood memories. I poured a bottle of scotch into a cup and set it next to his skeleton. I talked about that day on Lake Gusev, when I was only eight years old, didn’t know how to swim; decked out in my floaties. I heard a creak in the ship as soon as I had been done with this talk, and I believed it was my father. Responding to the final talk we would ever have. A living breathing person, talking to a bare-bones skeleton. Goodbye, Father.

I knew how it felt. I knew the pain of someone passing away. Hopefully someday none of us will ever have to deal with that. Maybe someday. I know for sure that I might not live to see that day. But it will come. Eventually. When the war is over. But not now. Not for a short time.

“I suppose you know what is going on.” Frederic said the day we had one of our Pelicans go down. Kelly and I were the unlucky ones, as we stuck with the old Pelican. We had to pull ourselves out of the burning wreckage, and make an attempt before then to save the aircraft. But, as always, the pilot ends up not being able to save the bird, and gets in a bad accident. We were lucky, but already had the chance of living because we were Spartans. Kelly and I pressurized hydrostatic gel on impact, and perforated the seals. Now we were standing, listening to Frederic blabber about the new plan, and covered in hydro gel. Not what I wanted, but I did enjoy the gift of surviving the mess. “-and that’s why we should stick to that plan.” Frederic finished a sentence that I hadn’t heard, due to the fact that I was pondering the chance of ever finding the Chief again. “Okay, so we need to get back to New Mombasa, inform ONI that we have a mission to complete, and then go from there, hopefully find the Chief.” Kelly said; she must’ve been listening. I knew that New Mombasa was a hotspot for people who work for the Office of Naval Intelligence. But what I also knew was that the place was a target for the Covenant, and it might’ve been under attack. “Now, what if New Mombasa is on fire? I mean, this is a stupid question to ask, but I know that they are a giant target on Earth right now.” I spoke up, trying to make them understand the importance of this. “Well, yes, that is a stupid question, and no, I don’t think they are a target compared to the headquarters in Sydney.” Frederic said. “Unless you're thinking up a hypothetical situation, I don’t really want to believe that. Mainly because that screws up our plan, and now we would be stuck trying to plan another way.” Frederic finished. “I don’t think she is coming up with a “what-if” situation, as it isn’t exactly the right time to think of one, and especially considering the fact that we just survived a hard impact back on the planet we have been yearning to get off of.” Kelly explained. “I know that, it’s just that our friend might be hiding something without our knowledge.” Hiding something? What was I hiding? I didn’t understand why he acted so…. Suspicious. “What on Erde-Tyrene are you talking about?” I asked in outrage. “Let me get this point across. You are a Spartan III. Us Spartan IIs don’t trust you mainly because of what that damn Colonel Ackerson did. Hacked into our project’s files. Halsey trusted Ackerson, but noticed that he was acting strange.” Frederic words cut me off from any strength of reason that I had to shoot back at him. “Okay.” I said, and then stayed silent. I felt a surge of defeat. Frederic went back into the Pelican, Linda on his six, and I sat down on a nearby boulder. I put my head in my hands. “Things aren’t the way they used to be.” I mumbled to Kelly, who was standing next to me, fidgeting with her pistol. “I know. It’s a great pain to have to worry about one of our team missing in action.” Kelly said somberly. An unknown feeling rushed over me. I felt like I had vertigo, but also a sense of pain. Like I was being stabbed in the back. It wasn’t worth it. Feeling this pain. I remember feeling this as a little kid. After being told that my father had disappeared. A few months later, the same thing. But I couldn’t recall what made me feel like that. “At least we have some time to find him.” I told Kelly, taking the feeling I had and shoving it down. I’d deal with that later. One thing at a time. “I’ll ask Frederic if he plans on finding the Chief.” Kelly said, and then walked into the Pelican. I hailed Kelly on the comns that afternoon; she said that she was going to stay in the Pelican, and not come out until the next day. I told her that I was going to recover things from the crash site. It wasn’t far from there. I stayed the night with the dead bird, recalling memories and rethinking how I could’ve handled the situation. Sometimes things are better this way, I thought to myself. Maybe I did the right thing. Maybe I didn’t. But all of it didn’t matter now. I already had the experience. Maybe next time. “Hey.” I turned around. No one was there. “Psst, hey you- Spartan.” a voice whispered, but I couldn’t figure out the source. “Hello?” I called out. Shuffling. Someone was there. But I didn’t know who. I started to circle the still-burning wreckage, trying to find them. “Hello?” I called out this time, and I saw something move out of my peripheral vision. “Aye, you can’t find me, can you?” The voice chuckled. “I’m over here.” I looked and saw a dark, black figure standing in front of the dying flames of the Pelican. “Who-” I said, but got cut off by the roaring of Banshees [the Covenant aerial-attack vehicle] in the distance. “Who are you?” I asked it. I wasn’t sure what it was, why it was talking to me, or even why it was there. So I decided to call it it. “I am someone who ran away from the Covenant.” it said, in a low voice. “Well, what about the genocidal Great Journey you have there?” I asked it. Again. I had no clue who or what it was. “The Great Journey?” They chuckled. “The Great Journey is a lie.” “Well, who or what are you?” I asked it. It emerged out of the darkness. An Elite clad in blue armor stood before me. “Oh…” I had soon realized that I had come face-to-face with a runaway Elite. “How am I supposed to trust you?” I asked the Elite. “You shouldn’t, but, I can give you information about the Covenant.”   
“Oh really?”  
“Yeah. I know a lot of classified information about the Covenant. I want to tell you before they find me and kill me.” The Elite seemed afraid. He was a warrior, a fighter. Why would he be scared? The real answer was that I didn’t know. Maybe the Covenant tortured him and he ran away because of that same reason. “Why do you want to give me this information?” I asked the Elite. “Well…. I know that the damn journey they’re talking about is genocide; there’s not a whole lot of chances to save humanity after those hell rings have been activated…. Er, I think I know why they want to kill off humanity.” The Elite told me, his eyes glowing in the dying flames of the crashed Pelican. The flames cast an amber glow on the trees in the area. “Humanity was in the way.” I answered him, thinking about what he was going to say next. “I need to see the rest of your team…. We don’t have a whole lot of time.” The Elite moved toward me. I froze, as instinct told me to; any wrong move would trigger the Elite to try and neutralize the threat I presented [or seemed to present]. He strolled past me. A silver light hanging from his belt caught my eye. An energy sword. And then a purple glow. I should’ve known. This Elite was armed. He turned around in his path, and [as i predicted] donned the blue sword and took a swing. I dodged it and pulled out my pistol. I shot at him and ran backwards. He struggled to keep up. Twice he had gotten dangerously close and swiped me, but I only received a minor injury both of the times. Finally, a miracle happened. His energy shielding dissipated and I shot him in the crown. He collapsed onto the ground. I looked at my HUD. My pistol had only one shot, and there were more enemies on my radar. One shot. More than one enemy. The odds were out. No ammo in my assault rifle, no ammo in my pistol. The only option for me at that point was to run. I had to run like hell, and make sure they didn’t spot me, although a Spartan III trudging through the sticks wasn’t inconspicuous. I heard shuffling to my left. I dashed toward the woods, looking for a place to hide. The way that they were coming from was the direction I had to follow in order to get back to Blue Team. They weren’t on alert, either. I had to wait until they lost interest in the area, and then I could proceed across the clearing. I looked at my clock located at the top of my HUD underneath my shield indicator. Two minutes had passed by since I had had the encounter with the Elite. Why had he betrayed me? Why did he lie? To think that I wouldn’t be a little suspicious…. A bright green light illuminated the clearing [or crash site, as I would call it], followed by a loud explosion. Fuel rod cannons. I looked past the bushes I had considered my hiding place. Two particularly large shadows had taken over the dim light of the wreckage fire. “This is Sierra 104. Answer-” I squelched my comn. Damn it. I should’ve known. The hunters looked in my direction. I leapt away just as an emerald bolt flew into the trees and detonated. It left a green smoke on the tree it destroyed. They had found me. I had no other choice but to fight them. Either fight them or risk them following me and putting the other Spartans in danger. I ran into the clearing, and dodged the fuel rods being ejected from their cannons built in on the Hunters’ arms. They all flew past me, some missing my head by a singular inch and my radiation warning screeched in my ears, as well as the familiar beeping of the energy shield indicator. It was almost music to my ears compared to the practical bombs being launched at me. I came close with one of them and ducked just as it went to charge at me. I climbed up its back, and stuck my hand in the flesh, killing the Hunter instantly. One more to go. Wait. Where was the other one? I looked around, being caught by surprise by another neon green bolt landed right where I was standing. The impact knocked me over, frying my shields, and melting my titanium armor. I was dead, for sure. 

Through blurry vision, I struggled to get up and run. The Hunter did what I had expected, shooting at me as I bolted through the clearing, ignoring the intense pain radiating throughout my body. I ran like hell was behind me. But then I wasn;t so lucky afterwards. I tripped and fell, another bolt missing my head by a centimeter, and exploding right beside me where I lay. I screamed in pain, and then everything went black. The fight was over. I knew I would die at that very moment. 

I woke up, the sounds of birds chirping in my ears. The Hunter was gone, so were the Elites [as far as I could tell on my radar.] And, the power to my suit was repaired. The only downside, though, was the fact that I had no idea how it had happened. Was it a dream? I sat up. Pain shot through my spine and legs. It was reality, almost trying to pinch me for mistaking it all for a dream. Of course I was in the same place, the same clearing, the same area where the battle had happened last night. And I had lost. Lost to a damn Hunter. Victory wasn’t expected, either, because I didn’t have ammunition to plant in the rear end of that Hunter. But how were my shields recharged and my power was back on? I struggled to stand up, making a wild, desperate attempt to ignore the pain. I nearly fell over; luckily there was a tree to lean on. I stood up against a tree. Took one step. Took another. I had a noticeable limp, but if I could make it back to the camp, I would be fine. As long as I didn’t think about the pain and the events that took place the night before. I would be fine. As I limped back to camp, I thought of plans to find the Chief. Wait, wouldn’t we ever find the Chief? I pushed that thought down. No sense in thinking about trouble now. I was injured, did my part [even though I had nearly been killed], and I was headed back to Blue Team. If I could make it.   
As soon as I reached the outskirts of the clearing where the LZ was located, I heard a faint shrieking that echoed throughout the forest. I stayed quiet, crouched, and listened. The sound seemed to be coming from my reference at 2 o’clock. It seemed to be coming closer every time I heard it. I was only worried because of the fact that the LZ was super quiet and I had no evidence of Blue Team presiding there. I heard another shriek, only it seemed to be just about one klick southeast of my position. I held my breath and listened. It happened again. Again. It got closer. I heard rustling behind me after a few more screeches, and I looked up. No doubt it would probably be a scout Jackal after me. If he were to find me, I would probably already know where he would be. I looked back down and pondered my situation. A laser-like sound filled the air. I looked behind me and I noticed a trail of smoke in a straight line directed toward one of the trees from another area deep in the woods. At least it sounded close. Close enough to fool me as being right above me. But it was still far off somewhere. Maybe I wouldn’t find him. I had only one other option, and that was risking a lot. If it was a sniper Jackal, I would be not long dead after running into the clearing. But if it was something else, I might have a chance. I had no ammunition, no weapons. The only thing I was left with was my fists. I had to take the risk. No way I would be able to stay hidden for long. I ran out into the clearing, swinging my head around, checking for any sign of hostility in the clearing. I stopped in the middle of the clearing. Held my breath and listened. Nothing. An eerie silence within the clearing. I looked for the Pelican. Nothing there. Just an area surrounded by trees. I could’ve sworn that they had the Pelican right here. I hung my head, looking down at my feet in the grass. I scrutinized the grass, looking for evidence of anything ever being there. I came up with nothing. I walked around in the forest. Maybe I will find something there. Nothing. It got to the point where I hated that word. Nothing. It sounded so shallow. “Hello?” Maybe calling out would get someone’s attention. I was just in so much pain and exhausted, that I didn’t care whose attention I had gotten. 

After a few days exploring the forest and taking naps on tree trunks, I had finally found something. An ammo case, in which I reloaded my weapons. That was the only thing that seemed human anywhere. I had a full rifle, a full pistol, and some grenades. That made me feel better. I continued to walk back toward the Pelican that had crashed in the clearing [the only Pelican around] and I felt myself almost drawn to the clearing. Maybe I could bring the bird back to life. It was already wrecked, before the crash, but I had fixed it, making it next to brand new. If only I could fix it again. I pried the cargo bay door open, and crawled in. I scrutinized the Pelican for tools, hoping to find some to be able to fix it, and it turned out that I had a little luck left. A toolbox, in the dash of the cockpit. 

I spent another three days restoring the bird, polishing its feathers and making it fly. The day had finally come where I had finished my job. The bird was ready for takeoff. I ran tests and trials, hoping for success, and I had fortunately achieved it. The bird was air ready, and I could search for Blue Team. My wounds had healed only slightly from the biofoam I had found on the ship.

I searched the planet. Days passed by, and I finally found them. I flew over a patch of forest, and they sent up a flare. I landed in a clearing next to their Pelican. I pulled the hatch open to open the cargo door, and I began my stroll down the ramp, exiting the ship. It wasn’t until I stepped onto the grass that I met eyes with Kelly. Her sapphire eyes showed a small bit of annoyance. “What’s wrong?” I asked her, breaking my stare. I looked down at the ground. “I’ve been fighting with Frederic. He’s pissed off that I sent up a flare and that I was against his idea over this whole ‘running away from you’ thing.” “Sounds like someone has a temper.” I joked. She stared at me. We were both cursed into a deep silence until it was broken by Linda. “What is she doing here?” Linda asked. “She couldn’t be left behind.” Kelly mumbled, staring at the ground. I hung my head. Linda would most definitely tell Frederic about this and he would leave me again. “I can’t have a repeat of last time.” I said, both of them now staring at me. “Repeat of what?” Kelly asked and I was sure she was worried about what might’ve happened. I told them the strand of events from start to finish while I had left to go explore the Pelican wreckage. “So this Elite basically treated you like a friend, and then he betrayed you by lying about how he had ran away?” Linda asked, curious. “Yeah. Sorta.” “We need to tell Frederic. He might know what’s going on in that area.” Kelly said. “Well, Kelly went looking for you-” Linda looked at Kelly, “And we stayed aboard the Pelican. We went looking for you both after Fred had said something about leaving, and we found Kelly, but not you. We returned back to the ship, and Fred told us that we were leaving you. So we left. Kelly threw a fit-” “No I didn’t.” Kelly interrupted. Linda shot Kelly a dirty look. “-The entire time we were on our way here.” Linda continued to glare at Kelly. Kelly just sat as usual, switching gazes back and forth between me and Linda. It was clear that she was ignoring Linda’s stare. “So are we going to move on or-” Kelly stopped, short. Frederic had walked in on them talking. “An issue?” He seemed friendly at first, but when his eyes narrowed on me, he lost his glow. “Anyone mind telling me why the hell she’s here?” He seemed like he was going to explode. I backed up slowly off of the rock I had decided to sit on during Linda’s sweet, but long conversation. Me, Linda, and Kelly stayed quiet. He rushed toward me, grabbing my arm and dragging me as he ran into the forest. The sticks and rocks didn’t play too well on my undersuit, banging and chipping up my armor as he ran swiftly. Air rushed past me as I struggled to break loose from his grasp. 

Finally, we came to a stop. I had no idea where we were, but if I had to guess, miles away from their LZ. He grabbed me by the neck and pinned me to a tree. “You-” He said, “-Have some explaining to do.” “I don’t think I do. A smile made its way across my bloody face. I had been cut up by the rocks and sticks during his run. “Yes you do.” He tightened his grip around my neck. I began to worry if he would strangle me, his eyes wild. “Put me down and I will explain it. Be a gentleman, will you?” I continued to grin as he slammed me down on the ground. I wasn’t hurt, but he was already on top of me, asking for answers. “Why?” He asked, a fire in his eyes. “I kinda wish you would let the others have some input on this, but I guess I’ll just have to explain it myself.” I stopped smiling. A useful tool would be to have someone else explain it, someone he trusts, but he had rushed all the way out here. I began to fit it all together. If I didn’t give him a good reason, he would leave me here. But if I did, I might have a shot at finding the Chief with the help of Blue Team. Kelly wanted me back. It was clear. I was also beginning to think that Linda was on my side too. But this I would have to explain on my own. I took a deep breath, and began telling him the story. Best to not be up by the neck while telling him. The sun slowly creeped across the sky as I explained everything. It was dark by the time I had finished and successfully convinced him that I should help the team find the Chief. “Fine. One chance. That’s it.” He had said to me. “One chance is all I need.” I whispered to the ceiling of the cargo bay aboard my Pelican. Kelly slept on the other side of the bay, snoring quietly. I thought it was unusual for Spartans to sleep, but we all hadn’t slept for over a week, and we needed some rest. “Before this, we had heard of John going MIA because he got trapped aboard a ship after the Covenant war, and that he had been transported to an uncharted region of the galaxy through slipspace.” Kelly had told me before she went to sleep. “They say he’s been drifting for four whole years now.” I looked at her. “That’s crazy. How could he possibly survive that aboard a ship with limited food and water?” I asked her. “They think he’s dead. Unless there was a cryopod aboard the ship that works, there’s no way he would still be alive.” Kelly told me, yawning shortly after. The last words stuck to me when she fell asleep. “We will find him. Eventually.” “I hope we will.” I whispered after she had fallen completely asleep. “I hope we will.”

The next week was a series of trips through space to get to other planets, covering bases on areas we knew the Chief wasn’t located. We soon got hailed back to a ship called the Infinity, a ship that had been under construction and its project in Alpha. We landed our Pelicans and had a rendezvous with the Captain. Captain Lasky was a mixture of personality I had never experienced before. He was comical, but he was also serious at times. He led us to the command center, where we met a Spartan named Sarah Palmer. We greeted the Commander as she walked in. “Newcomers, huh?” She asked Lasky. “Yeah. It’s the Chief’s Fireteam.” Lasky answered Palmer. “Ooh. We struck gold on this one, didn’t we?” I looked over at Kelly, who didn’t seem amused by the comment. “Have you gotten any reports on the Chief’s whereabouts, ma’am?” She asked, clearly hiding the annoyance in her voice. “Ahem. We did not get any more information on where your Fireteam Leader has been, but he is MIA and he is the least of our worries right now.” Palmer wasn’t too careful with what she said. I could sense the ODST in her tone, as those Marines have almost a sense of entitlement. I had previous knowledge of all the personnel in command on the Infinity. I looked at the commander. “Oh.” She said, noticing me. “This girl is lost. She clearly isn’t on Blue Team.” I shifted my feet. I felt the gaze of the Captain on me. She stepped closer, but slow, like I was an animal that would bite if she were in close range. “Where’s your team, honey?” She said in a mock tone. I tried my best to hide my anger. She noticed me getting a little hot, and asked me if I needed to step outside the command center. I did, and she left me with my own thoughts and the sounds of rushing soldiers echoing throughout the halls. Good. I needed to think. I thought of how I would react if I saw him for the first time. Shake hands? No. That didn’t seem right. Maybe salute? No. He wasn’t an officer. As much as I respected the Chief, the only thing I would be able to do formally was to acknowledge his presence. And so I will. If I find him. 

Memory:  
I remember that horrible day. My father had left for war and my mother was planning my birthday party. The kids she invited weren’t even people I knew. They had trashed my room, all except one sweet little boy. He helped me clean up the mess. We talked as we cleaned, telling jokes and laughing. He asked my mother if he could stay late and help clean up the party. Once we were done, he went home and my mother asked me how it went. I told her it was fine, knowing that it would hurt if I told her the truth. It had sucked. The kids had played peekaboo with my dog, and he stayed in the corner, whimpering the whole party. Sometimes kids would tell him to shut up, and he howled. Karma. I thought. He at least is giving them what they deserve. Later that night, my mom told me she would give me the present she had been promising she would give me all day. She held up a tablet with my father’s face on it. He had a jagged scar across his left eye, and a cut along his jawline. “Hey, Stell! I’m so happy to see you!” He smiled, his teeth gleaming white. “Happy Birthday, sweetheart!” My father said to me, I stared at the carpet. “Why are you so down?” My father asked, a concerned tone in his voice. It hurt, not seeing my father in person. Seeing him through a screen didn’t help the case, and it hurt even more. He wasn’t here on my birthday and he had promised. I ran from the room and dashed into my bedroom. I slammed the door and locked it. “Honey, what’s wrong?” My mother’s sweet voice came from down the hall. No. I won’t answer. “Why isn’t she talking to me?” My father asked from the tablet. “I don’t know… Maybe she had a bad day today because you aren’t here.” I heard my mother reply from behind the door. No. I will keep it all out. Shut out the horrible memories of what my father did to my mother. That mother- that mother out in the hall- she wasn’t my real mom. She was my step-mother. 

The day after the meeting, after we were all rested up and re-energized, we had a rendezvous with the Captain. “Are you ready to get back to work?” Frederic asked all of us. “Uh-” I stuttered, then straightened my spine. “Yes sir.” I saluted Frederic and stood at attention. The other two women on Blue Team noticed what I did and saluted him as well. “We are ready.” Kelly said to him as she saluted. Maybe this might work out. 

We spent an hour planning combat positions and rendezvouses along with hypothetical situations being squashed in a formal desperation. Frederic claimed “It was to save time,” although I had a different standpoint on that because they were coming up with situations that were very possible. I believed only half of the story on one side and half on the other. Describing my standpoint in an easier way, I was in the middle of things versus being on sides. I never played the favorites card when it came to solving a problem. I would gather information from both sides, and then use the evidence I had to solve it. In this case, it was a very minor detail I could identify in the slightest, and it wasn’t considered an issue. An hour later, we loaded the Pelican with ammunition and set off to find the Master Chief. 

As the Pelican’s engines hummed a solid tune, I sat down on one of the passenger seats. It wasn’t luxury, as it wasn’t built to support my gear, but it held up. “I’m glad that we’re actually doing what we originally set out to do.” I said to Kelly across the cargo bay, who was as usual, fiddling with her weapons. “We were separate until we crossed paths. We then decided to go look for him together. I was sure Blue Team could use an extra hand. But you do realize that you aren’t welcome here by my teammates, right?” Kelly said to me, making me think how true that statement was. “Yeah. Aren’t you just a bucket full of sunshine?” I joked. She turned around to look at me, not an amused expression on her face. She was concentrated, I knew that. But behind that look, was a fire in her eyes. She wasn’t happy with the status of her team. I knew very well why she wasn’t; usually they worked together and were happy when they were led by the Master Chief instead of Frederic-104. I also knew that I wouldn’t be able to share the happy ending with them, like always. They were a team, and I was myself, fending on only my combat skills without the others helping me fight. They only had to keep me alive because Halsey would wonder where I was. No doubt I would be dead if she wasn’t one who brought it to attention. Not to mention the Master Chief. He would no doubt wonder where I was, and I would get them in trouble. I slid my hand down my pistol thoughtfully, and Kelly was already turned back around, focused on her weapon. “Any battle plans?” I asked her, knowing she probably wasn’t sided with me anymore. “No. We’re winging it. And as soon as we find him, we’re taking you back to Halsey.” Of course. She and the rest of Blue Team would not put up with my presence, as it seemed to be me being dead weight to them. Kelly had been my friend before, but the minute she saluted Frederic, she turned serious. I could tell, as she seemed to be at a more stiffer posture than before, and with Linda and Frederic aboard with us in the cockpit, any mistake would send her dignity right out the airlock. A voice came from the cockpit radio, a crackle of static along with it. Me and Kelly rushed toward the cockpit and all of us gathered around to hear what it was saying. “This is Spartan-117, does anyone read?” This voice was the voice of the Master Chief. He was alive, now all we had to do was find him. I looked around the cockpit, the rest of Blue Team with smiles on their faces. We tracked the location of the signal, then plotted a course. This was it.


End file.
